Captain's Blog (2020) #12

Captain’s Blog No 12, (28.08.20)

Dear Members,

The last couple of weeks have been rather soggy! The course has been hit by a series of deluges which have inevitably resulted in some closures and cancellation of events. The most disappointing cancellation was the Seniors Open scheduled for August 18th. Mike Atkinson had worked really hard preparing for it and there was a record entry, but unfortunately torrential rain overnight left the course underwater, very frustrating!

However, amongst the monsoon the Ladies Section has provided a couple of real highlights putting on 2 wonderful events. Firstly, the Ladies Open on August 20th. This was a real triumph, the event was beautifully presented, the organisation was fantastic, the course was in remarkably good condition after the storm earlier in the week and a record entry enjoyed an excellent day. It was a real credit to and a fine advert for PHGC. Congratulations to Pam Stonehouse and her small army of helpers!

Secondly, the Lady Captain’s Charity day. This was another fantastically well organised and great fun event. The ‘Alternative Olympics’ theme was enthusiastically embraced by the competitors with some very imaginative costumes. There were prizes or Olympic related quiz questions for each hole to keep everybody involved and despite a poor weather forecast some of us got round without getting wet. Well done Karen for organising a day to remember.

As we move into September, we still have many important events to fit in, so I just hope that we get a reasonable month weather-wise to allow us to close out this quite different golf season.

The Captain’s Charity Day is scheduled for Saturday September 12th. This will be 4BBB event which is open to all club members. There are prizes for men’s, ladies, and mixed pairs, nearest the pins, captain’s challenge (on the 18th) etc, so plenty of opportunities to win something. Entries are pouring in (!) but there are still plenty of tee times available, so if you can, please sign up on BRS (if you don’t have a partner, don’t worry we will find someone suitable). As an added incentive, free lunch (burger, roll and salad) will be provided for all competitors! Surely too good an offer to miss!

As with previous Charity events this year, there is no entry fee, but competitors will be asked to make a donation to my charity (Prostate Cancer UK) via.
www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/david-hughes-183
or by BACS to-
PHGC Captain’s Account, 20-51-08, 53148041

Additionally, on 12/13th Sept, Adam Gaze is undertaking a 24hr golfathon to raise funds for my charity. This is an incredible effort by Adam. Please support him either by sponsoring him or by signing up to accompany Adam for 9holes of night-time golf, apparently, it is great fun. Sponsorship can be pledged and entry for the night-time golf can be secured either by contacting me or via the pro-shop.

I hope to see many of you on September 12th.
Until then, keep safe, keep dry and enjoy your golf!

Dave

Captain's Blog (2020) #10

Captain’s Blog No 10, (30.07.20)

One of the great features of golf is that it is a sport accessible to all ages, this has been clearly demonstrated over the past fortnight at Pryors Hayes.

A real highlight of my year so far was to be present to welcome competitors and their parents to the European Junior Tour event that Roger put on at Pryors Hayes last Thursday. This is one of a large series events Roger organises each year.

Obviously, the programme has been somewhat curtailed this year but there was no disguising the youthful exuberance or the sheer talent of the competitors last week! It was really thrilling to witness.

Over 30 boys and girls, aged from 7 to 14 took part all of whom are potential future golf stars. Several youngsters from PHGC were in the field with Michael Stonehouse returning a nett 66. Well done to everybody involved.

Like most members I have long been aware of Roger’s involvement with Junior golf but seeing the tour event up close really bought home what a wonderful job he does and what a great advert his activities are for Pryors Hayes.

Perhaps towards the other end of the golfing age range, it was also great to take part last Friday in the first full ‘nine and dine’ event of the year. These are always fun evenings. There were over 30 competitors who played a 3-ball waltz followed by an excellent meal (thanks Bill).

A huge thank you to Norma for organising everything, particularly for her meticulous planning of the arrangements in the clubhouse to make sure we were all Covid safe. I think this has set a benchmark for future group dining experiences while the pandemic persists.

While on the subject of age, I played in my first senior’s event of the season on 14th July. One of my playing partners was the remarkable Walter Gilbert. Walter is apparently over 90, but you wouldn’t know it when you watch him play golf.

Golf really is a game for all ages!

Some recent highlights;

In the Ladies Section, the Senior Ladies Trophy was won by Sue Hulme, one of the longest standing and most senior lady members, with a wonderful score of 41pts with her new junior clubs!

By contrast the July EWGA medal was won by one of the younger members (and fellow Barrow resident) Sophie Runciman with a nett 67, someone to look out for in the future!

In the Seniors, the monthly medal was won by David Hollingwoth with a nett 59!!! That’s not a misprint it really was a 59.

The monthly winners of the stableford prizes were; Division 1 - Graham Jones 42pts, Division 2 – Mike Taylor 38pts, Division 3 - Ian Craven 38pts.

In the Men’s section the Chairman’s Trophy was won by Matthew Jones with a nett 66, narrowly beating Jack Craven who had an excellent 72 – 5 – 67.

Well done to all recent winners.

Jack’s excellent gross score of 72 is the latest in a series of low scores from our low handicappers (mostly relative youngsters) which promises a very competitive club championship over the weekend Aug 8th and 9th.

Remarkably we already have over 100 entries for the club championship, it should be a really exciting weekend.

Looking further forward, there are still places available on both Captain’s away days (Henlle on Sept 20 and Eaton on Sept 21st, details on the Captain’s noticeboard).

It would be lovely to fill both days, please contact me if you would like to join us on one or both.

Until the next time, stay safe and enjoy your golf
Dave

Captain's Blog (2020) #9

Captain’s Blog No 9, (16.07.20)

Dear Members

The golf club remains very busy, lots of activity on the course and over the past 2 weeks some activity in the clubhouse! It has been lovely to be able to enjoy a drink and a snack after golf with the partial reopening of the clubhouse. I understand some members have been concerned about Covid related safety within the clubhouse.

The club has undertaken a full risk assessment and introduced protocols designed to keep everyone safe and to comply with the government guidelines for bars/restaurants. It is really important that we all follow the procedures laid down (use the hand sanitiser provided, register via your mobile if you are going to sit inside the clubhouse, follow the one way system and maintain sensible social distancing), if you do have concerns please let the staff know.

Golf events continue to come thick and fast. The course remains busy (since the course reopened I have averaged 5 rounds a week and the body is starting to complain!). The course continues to receive many positive comments from members and visitors, so a big thank you to Andy and his team for their hard work.

I recently attended a meeting of the Greens Liaison Committee and was very impressed with the positive approach and commitment to ongoing improvements. The minutes of the GLC and Andy’s reports are available on the members notice board. I recommend them to give you a sense of the concrete steps being taken to maintain and improve the course. 

Some highlights of the past couple of weeks:

In the Ladies’ section Joan Hayes won the Reade Rosebowl

In the Men’s section the scoring has been excellent. In the July monthly medal there were several Nett 65s, the winner on countback was Rick Smith. The Captain’s Trophy was won by Thomas Peters with a Nett 66 and the Midweek Masters by Adam Page with a fantastic round, Gross 71! Nett 63.

In the Seniors Section I ran a Captain’s Charity Stableford on July 7th. It turned out to be an extremely wet morning! Despite this, 53 members took part and remained very cheerful if rather wet. The prize winners were:

Division 1
1st Graham Jones 42pts, 2nd Ronnie Taylor 40pts, 3rd Steve Wynne 39pts
Division 2
1st Ian Craven 38pts, 2nd Russell Jones 37pts, 3rd Derek Evans 34pts

The Captain Challenge
26 (!) of you beat the Captain and won a sleeve of balls
20 hit the green and were entered into the draw for a fourball at Wrexham Golf Club, the winner was; John Kummer.
Nearest the pin (about 12inches!) Mike Taylor

Due to everyone’s generosity over £400 was raised for Prostate Cancer UK, thank you all.

Captain’s Matchplay Challenge

This is proving very successful. So far I have played 7 challenge matches, 2 singles and 5 mixed doubles (with Isabelle as my partner). All the matches have been great fun. The record to date is W3, L3, Halved 1. If you fancy the challenge (singles or pairs) contact me to fix a time (davehughes1954@btinternet.com or 07801 036632).

Captain’s (Mens) Away Days (Sun Sept 20th and Mon Sept 21st)

I had planned a 2 day trip to Patshull Park unfortunately they have closed down! Fortunately they returned the deposit!. 
As an alternative I have arranged a 2 day golfing extravaganza which will not include staying away (with the complications of social distancing while sharing rooms).
The new plan is;

Sunday Sept 20th; Henlle Park Golf Club
Arrival – Bacon roll and tea/coffee 12.00
1st tee 1:00 to 2.30
2 Course Dinner 7:00
Monday Sept 21st Eaton Golf, Chester
Arrival – Bacon roll and tea/coffee 9:00
1st tee 10:00 to 11:30
2 Course Meal 4:00

There are 40 places available at both venues and the cost for each day will be £47.50, first refusal was given to those who had booked to go to Patshull but there remain plenty of places on both days. To reserve your place (for either or both days) please contact me; (davehughes1954@btinternet.com or 07801 036632)

Until the next time stay safe and enjoy your golf.
Dave

Captain's Blog (2020) #8

Captain’s Blog No 8, (29.06.20)

As we gradually emerge from lockdown (let’s hope that the virus continues to decline!) events on the golf course have moved on at pace. Over the past 2 weeks the competition schedule has swung into full operation. Making up for lost time, competitions and in particular major trophy events, have been coming thick and fast!

It is really exciting to see that the numbers participating in all competitions are at record levels, the only difficulty now is finding tee times for everybody. It’s a great problem to have! Already the men have played 5 trophy competitions with the winners listed below.

The Rosebowl – Tim Spence, Nett 63
The Barnes Cup – Gareth Hughes, Nett 66 
Northern Trophy – Thomas Gibbons, 40pts
McEwans Trophy – Jon Briggs, 40pts
Hogan Trophy – Jamie Randles, 38pts

The Ladies section has also been busy with 2 further trophy competitions, their winners were;

Calloway Trophy – Karen Green (Lady Captain), Nett 71
Curtis Trophy – Linda Heaher, 34pts
Divisional winners of the Thursday Stableford on 25th June were,
Sharon Shorthouse 36pts, Teresa Girdham 41pts (great score) and Joan Hayes 35pts.

The Seniors section is also thriving, with more than 60 competitors in each Tuesday morning competition. Their highlight this month was the June Medal with some really low scoring, the winners were;

Division 1 - Ronnie Taylor, Nett 64
Division 2 - Cyril Craven, Nett 61 – amazing score!
Division 3 - Ian Craven, Nett 67

Well done to all the winners.

With all these competitions and the really high numbers of members playing (both competitively and socially) despite the very abnormal backdrop, there has been a real buzz at the club. Thank you to everybody for creating such a positive atmosphere.  

With the further relaxation of the lockdown in the coming days, I understand the clubhouse will be partially reopening on Saturday. I look forward to sharing a cup of tea or a drink after a round of golf with as many of you as possible in the coming weeks.

Stay safe
Dave